The infamous cure was used once again on The Vampire Diaries season 8, episode 11. This time, it could have a major impact on not just the recipient, but every other character, as well.
Last week, Caroline was wondering who would be the one to make Stefan flip his humanity switch. Now, we don’t have to worry about that anymore! You don’t need a humanity switch when you’re…well, human. Stefan Salvatore has finally been freed from his ripper side forever.
This is an amazing development for Stefan’s character. He’s struggled with being a vampire for over 150 years, and that torment has now been abolished with one swift injection. Unfortunately, Stefan didn’t exactly receive the cure under the best circumstances. For one thing, he had just killed Bonnie’s love, Enzo, and broke her heart. Also, his humanity will have major (mostly negative) ramifications for the people he loves.
We’ll get into what this means for the other characters on The Vampire Diaries, but first, let’s talk about the logistics of this cure. Right now, this whole thing isn’t really adding up from a scientific, or a mythological standpoint.
When Katherine had the cure in her blood, Nadia told her that Silas would need to drink “every last drop” of her blood to be cured. Silas did that, which caused Katherine to start aging, making up for the extra 500-ish years that she was immortal. She eventually died as a result of that aging, only a few months after Silas took the cure from her.
Then, Amara drank the cure from Silas, but it really didn’t look like she took “every last drop.” Following that, we didn’t really see any signs of Silas aging. Of course, Silas only lived for a couple days after that, so maybe it just wasn’t noticeable at that point, or maybe, since he was a witch, he was slowing down the aging process.
Of course, Katherine, being the ultimate survivor, did attempt to make a deal with Qetsiyah to keep herself alive. Qetsiyah agreed to help her, but in the end, said she had “learned her lesson about altering someone’s lifespan,” and refused.
In The Vampire Diaries season 8, episode 11, Bonnie took a pretty small syringe of Elena’s blood to use as the cure. She injected it into Stefan and he passed out, just like Katherine did when she was cured.
So, we’re willing to buy that Stefan was cured with only that small sample of Elena’s blood, since the same thing happened to Amara. However, are we seriously supposed to believe that the cure is now completely out of Elena’s system? That the entire dose of the cure resided in that little syringe? And, if that’s not the case, does Elena (and now Stefan) basically hold an unlimited supply of the cure in her body?
We know, or expect, that Elena will barely be affected by someone taking the cure from her, as she’s only been a vampire for a few years. As for Stefan, based on what happened to Katherine, we can guess that he would rapidly age to make up for the extra 150+ years he lived as a vampire. Is there a magical way to slow down that aging process? Based on what we saw from Silas, and heard from Qetsiyah, there almost definitely is.
We also know that there’s probably at least one more cure out there. Katherine took the cure from the real world, and Elena took the cure from the 1994 prison world, but there’s still the 1903 prison world to consider. There could also be even more prison worlds that we don’t know about! If Salvatore and co. can find a way to get there, the whole gang could be human before this thing ends.
Now, as if all of that wasn’t confusing enough, let’s dive into the extremely complex circumstances The Vampire Diaries characters are now faced with, and the choices they’ll have to make! Nothing ever comes too easy, for Salvatore and co., and this definitely will not be the exception.
Elena
After working through all of this cure “science”/mythology, we’re starting to feel envious of Elena Gilbert. She’s just chillin’, waiting for something to happen that’s going to wake her up. The devil’s in town? Elena doesn’t care! For the time being, she`s all good.
Eventually, though, she will wake up and rejoin the absolute absurdity that has been her life, ever since Stefan Salvatore walked into it. So, what happens then?
Well, Elena will be human. That, we know for sure. Once you take the cure, you can’t even ingest vampire blood, let alone become a vampire again. We can’t guess at the quality, or even the length, of her life, but we know it will be a human one.
If Stefan and Bonnie both live a similar lifespan, Elena’s plan doesn’t necessarily have to change. Damon could drink the cure from Stefan’s blood when he’s near death, and Damon and Elena could live a full, human life together. If, for some reason, Bonnie dies much sooner than Stefan, or something else happens to wake Elena up, things could get a little more interesting.
If Elena wakes up soon, the original The Vampire Diaries ship, and an entire set of doppelgangers, would be human. Could the alternate reality Stelena vision from season 5 actually come true? Maybe! If Stefan and Elena are human, and Damon and Caroline can’t, or choose not to, be cured, it’s a possibility. They fell in love once, some would argue they still are, and far crazier things have happened on The Vampire Diaries.
Caroline
Caroline needs a damn hug. The girl was just gearing up to take on Cade so she could stop her fiance from continuing his mass murder spree, and then this happened. The Vampire Diaries throws us yet another vampire/human pairing.
The question for Caroline is now, of course, would she want to become human, if she had the chance? Well, she basically answered that in The Vampire Diaries season 8, episode 11, when she told Matt that “some people don’t regret it,” in reference to vampirism.
Related: The Vampire Diaries 8×11 recap: The race for the cure, part 2
Caroline has always had superior vampire skills compared to the rest of Salvatore and co. Her vampirism helped her find confidence, strength, and self-worth, which helped to diminish some of her more annoying qualities. Other than her one trip to the land of no emotions, she rarely gives into her less moral vampiric impulses.
The one thing that might’ve made Caroline want humanity would’ve been the possibility of starting a family, but now she has the best of both worlds. Of course, Josie and Lizzie will eventually grow up and die, so they could still be a factor in Caroline’s decision.
If Salvatore and co. is able to track down another cure, Caroline will have a huge decision to make. If she took it, her path would likely be to marry Stefan and lead a human life with her family. If she didn’t, the June wedding could still happen, but she’ll get to remain a kickass vampire long after his death and will (hopefully) live to know many loves. I wonder who that could include…
Damon
Even though, like Caroline, Damon has found joy in his vampirism, he agreed to give that up to lead a “perfect, human life” with Elena. Now that Stefan took the cure, that plan could all come crashing down.
Like we mentioned in the Elena section, things could still work out for Damon and Elena. If Stefan and Bonnie both live full lives, Elena will wake up in approximately 60 years, and Damon will take the cure from Stefan when he’s near death.
If Elena wakes up sooner than expected, that could change things for Damon. If he can’t find and take another version of the cure, he’ll be forced to remain a vampire as Elena ages, just like Caroline with Stefan.
Bonnie
If Caroline needs a hug, Bonnie needs a sedative. Seriously, how does this girl carry on, season after season? Her life is just one tragedy after another. Even though Stefan wasn’t in his right mind when he killed Enzo, we’re guessing Bonnie’s still going to be pretty pissed.
Since the vampire who Bonnie had planned to spend a human life with is now dead, her plans aren’t actually super affected by Stefan’s humanity. Of course, the whole Cade thing is still everyone’s problem, but other than that, she’ll just have to help her friends through all of the drama that’s about to ensue.
This would change, however, if Enzo is somehow resurrected. Since it’s pretty likely that Bonnie now has her magic back, this could happen. The cure that Enzo had planned to take is now off the table, so he’d have to search for an alternative. Either Enzo and Bonnie would continue their vampire/human romance, Enzo would take another version of the cure, or Bonnie could find a loophole to become a vampire.